SolidWorks 2011 Assemblies Bible - Matt Lombard [116]
FIGURE 14.3
Opening an assembly with all parts suppressed
If you replace your Toolbox parts with the Toolbox parts from your client, you may experience the same problem in reverse if you had configurations that your client did not. In the end, it would be great to be able to merge the two parts to combine all the available sizes into a single file. There is a way of doing that, which you will learn later, but it is a convoluted workaround. Files that have the same names and different content are at the top of the list of things you shouldn't do in file management, and yet the SolidWorks Toolbox system frequently creates this very situation.
Using SolidWorks solutions for incorrect configurations
To be fair, SolidWorks fixed the problem with incorrect configurations in the 2007 version by coming up with a clever method for figuring out which size is missing and building it on the fly when the assembly is opened. Additional information about the Toolbox parts is now stored in the assembly, which helps identify the missing parts. Unfortunately, the fix only works for assemblies that use the parts from the 2007 or later library and assemblies that have been built in SolidWorks 2007 or later. To sum up, if you have assemblies built in an older version of SolidWorks and your Toolbox library becomes corrupted or lost, or you are sent an assembly that uses a different Toolbox library, even if you are working in a version later than SolidWorks 2007, you cannot benefit from this fix.
A new option that has been added to SolidWorks 2011 tells it to look for Toolbox parts first in your Toolbox data folder. This option is turned on by default for new installations. Figure 14.4 shows the Tools⇒Options⇒Hole Wizard/Toolbox location for this setting.
FIGURE 14.4
You can tell SolidWorks to look in your Toolbox data for any references to Toolbox parts.
Organizing the Toolbox parts
Toolbox parts can be organized in a number of ways. The raw parts are organized as follows:
• Standard and Units. For example, ANSI Inch or ANSI Metric, most standards do not include multiple units, as they assume metric.
• Hardware Type, such as bearings, bolts, and bushings.
• Each type is organized differently, but bolts and screws are organized by drive or head type. For example, you have socket head screws, hex head, and thumb screws.
• Filenames look like Socket Button Head Cap Screw_AI.SLDPRT, where the AI represents ANSI Inch.
Figure 14.5 shows the Toolbox parts list.
FIGURE 14.5
Toolbox content organization
Choosing configurations or parts
By now, you may be unsure about whether to use configurations. However, keep in mind that the problem does not come from the configurations but from the practice of having files with the same names but different content.
You have two options when you create different sizes. The default option is that sizes are created as configurations within a single part. The other option is that sizes are created as individual files.
The best time to make this choice is before you install SolidWorks. Unfortunately, before you install SolidWorks, you probably do not have any idea that these issues exist. The reason for making this decision not just early, but as soon as possible before installation, is that if you start using the default setting (configurations), and make a few configurations for some parts and then switch to using the Save Parts setting, the parts that are saved out will all have the pre-existing configurations and thus different sizes.
If you find yourself in this situation, it is better to reinstall Toolbox or simply to copy over a new default set of parts with no configurations.
You can access the Create Configurations and Create Parts options by choosing Toolbox